Peace, Man!

Okay, I admit my '70s-post Woodstock roots. I grew up with Tie-dye and the Peace symbol, familiar items to everyone now, too.

In recent years, it seems that no generation has escaped war: the Depression era families were touched by World War I; their children entered World War II; then came Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm...

According to the recent annual Mindset List for the Class of 2013 at Beloit College, the current generation of college freshman has grown up with the war in Iraq.

The cry in the Sixties and Seventies was "Give Peace a Chance!"

Following are a few quotes from those who have had something to say on peace, and say it much better than I ever will:

Benjamin Franklin: There never was a good war or a bad peace.

Jimi Hendrix: When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.

John Lennon: Imagine all the people living life in peace.

Martin Luther King Jr.: One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.


* See John Lennon/Yoko Ono video, Give Peace a Chance

* See more peace quotes

* Sam in Searching for a Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery thinks peace is cool, though she won't find it with crabby Mrs. Drake - or will she?

The Star Trek Guide to World Peace

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of world peace is Star Trek. Yeah, no kidding. I think of this Utopian globalised planet where everyone gets along. Of course in Star Trek, you have to note that there are plenty of other beings that do not get along... But as a planet, Earth is a pretty peaceful place with no wars, global money, (Or is there money at all?) and a unified population that seems to agree on everything.

Ok, world peace will never be achieved quite like that. At least not everyone will agree on everything all of this time, but the ideas are sound and whether you know it or not, we're moving in that direction. Will we see it? Nope. But give it another few hundred years or so and I fully believe that we could have a pretty strong foundation for world peace. Just look how things have changed in the last few decades. The Internet connects the planet in light speed bringing communication and understanding where there was confusion, misinformation and fear before. The Euro is another example of countries agreeing to get along financially.

While there are plenty of arguments against global money, the Euro has strengthened Europe and is a sign of things to come. Think of it this way, the Euro unified Europe's money... so one nation has the same cash value as another. Think if that was in place for the last 200 years how many lives would have been spared and how many wars could have been prevented. Dare I say that a unified monetary system would probably have prevented World War II?

The attainable goal of world peace is something that doesn't just come from a song or a protest sign. This is something that everyone has to agree on. Everyone has to be on board and they have to realize that it isn't going to happen quickly. A lot of bitterness and centuries of anger have to subside or be forgiven, but it's like I always say, "Keep chipping away at it." Like Spock says, "Live long and Prosper."

My steampunk adventure novel, Thomas Riley, comes out in October on Echelon Press.
http://nickvalentino.blogspot.com

World Peace.

World Peace.

The most common interpretation of these two words deals with everyone becoming friends with each other, rather than becoming enemies.

It is often a complicated topic as people argue over who believes it can be done and who believes that it is impossible, who believes it should be done and who believes it shouldn’t, who believes it should be top priority and who believes that it should not be top priority.

World peace is a topic people seem to actively seek, but wonder if it will be possible to ever actually attain. Questions begin to arise about whether or not people can actually change to fit the guidelines that are necessary for peace to rein throughout the world.

So here’s the question you need to ask: Is it important to you? Do you want it and feel it is necessary for the world? Or do you not care and simply wish to go about your daily life? If you answered yes, you feel it is necessary, then decide if you wish to help. Every little thing can help – being nice to your neighbor, co-worker, friend… It can all add up.

What are you opinions on world peace?

MOM Earth

Look at that picture.

Beautiful, isn’t it? Or she, if you’re into the feminine avatars like Mother Earth, Gaia and Ötüken we bestow upon the space faring orb that we constantly abuse with pollution, war and reality shows.

Although we inhabit just the smallest portion crust of this planet, we do so many things that grossly affect her, such as bare stinky feet and global warming, which even the most hardcore of doubters finally admit is happening.

Imagine a world without ice on the poles. It would be a swirling, cloud covered planet looking like a bowl of cinnamon oatmeal. As the water warms, the frequency and ferocity of storms would soar, battering the surface of the planet, which lose landmass as rising sea levels gobble up valuable beachfront property and swallow entire islands like Cuba, Hawaii and Kirsty Alley.

Imagine a world where a war-torn planet is ripped apart by a nuclear war. The resultant cloud cover and radiation would wrap around the planet as a sick, ugly yellow cloud trapped in the atmosphere. The sun would cook a noxious stew of poisonous gasses killing human, animal, plant and maybe even Madonna.

Hah, just kidding. Madanna would survive.

If you watch a beauty contest, the contestants are asked inane questions, like ‘What would you like more than anything else?’

Besides a diet pill that actually works, as the movie “Miss Congeniality” made clear, the rote answer is, “World peace.”

Uh, huh. Okay, so what keeps us from achieving this World Peace?

Any ideas?

I think it’s easy. The thing that keeps us from World Peace is World Piece. As in greed. Everyone wanting a bigger slice of the pie. And not just their share of the pie. They want a bigger piece than they are entitled to.

Greed for possessions, greed for other peoples’ property, greed for the big gas guzzling car that denotes status, the greed of one country coveting the resources of its neighbor or from the not-neighbor in, say, the Middle East, greed for power, greed for the biggest bowl of ice cream.

So until we figure out some way to handle greed, we won’t see World Peace. Simple as that.

And hopefully we won’t tear Mother Earth to world pieces along the way.

I got no solutions, except maybe everyone should read funny books or something. And I’m sorry I wasn’t funny today. If you want funny, go read one of my books. They’re funny, I promise.

And they’ll bring us World Peace.

(Oh, and my new vampire humor YA book, Fang Face can be had on Earth friendly e-book, as well as traditional paper.)

Norm

http:www.normcowie.com